Trauma Therapy
in the Denver Metro area & online throughout Colorado
Treatment for PTSD (single-incident/shock trauma) and complex or developmental trauma, utilizing mindfulness, Interpersonal Neurobiology, somatic techniques, and attachment-based interventions.
The definition of trauma I’ve found most helpful is any experience that overwhelms our ability to cope. This can be as life-altering as an assault or a severe car accident, or as subtle as painful rejections, chronic health problems, or a parents’ divorce.
Trauma can be divided into two categories: single-incident or shock trauma, leading to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and developmental or attachment trauma, leading to Complex PTSD (though, despite a growing consensus of research there is no official diagnosis for C-PTSD). While there is plenty of overlap, and many of the clients I work with have both types of trauma, PTSD tends to have a “before” and an “after,” whereas many people with C-PTSD may have never experienced a “before.”
Because of this difference, PTSD and C-PTSD are clinically separate categories even though they share many of the same symptoms (mood dysregulation, fear and anxiety, hypervigilance, avoidance, difficulty with personal relationships, shame, haunting memories, and more). While most of us can see how combat experiences, life-threatening medical events, or a school shooting can cause PTSD, it can be harder to identify that chronic adverse experiences, such as growing up with a substance-addicted parent or living in an emotionally barren household, can be just as devastating to the body, mind, and soul.
The goal of trauma therapy is to be able to regulate your body and mind—to live out of a grounded and embodied self-awareness instead of bouncing up and down from fight-or-flight to shutdown. Parts of trauma therapy may entail revisiting the roots of the trauma, but much of it takes place in the here-and-now, as you learn to feel safe again, to offer compassion and healing to the wounds inside, and to open yourself to new experiences (like intimacy without dissociation, or love with boundaries) as well as old experiences you may have avoided for a long time. Effective trauma therapy helps you find freedom, so you can live from your values instead of from your pain.
If you want to schedule a free consultation to find out if trauma therapy with me is a good fit, please contact me.
Here are some blog posts related to trauma:
